blogthougtsontrends-blog

[blogthougtsontrends-blog]

Neighbours or strangers?

From knowing everybody in your street, to knowing only the neighbours and now we even have the neighbourhood prevention. The rise of social media and the importance of individualism have driven us apart, and this social movement seeks to reignite the spark that makes us want to really connect again. We will never have to go back to way it used to be but we do need to think about why we lost connection for an example the connection to our neighbours.

one of the ways we can reconnect with for example our neighbours is the concept of social balconies. Everybody know what a balconies is but what if you were to share one with your neighbour. The idea is that everybody will have a shared balcony with one of their neighbours. These balconies are connect through bridges and stairs, these could then be used to have dinners and have little shared gardens. These balconies could be used in big cities like New York and Tokyo. In a city like Tokyo these balconies could help against a problem that Japan now faces called Hikikomori, This is a phenomenon where mostly young people will cut themselves off from society. If more people would be able to connect with these people and help them come out could prevent these people form even becoming hikikomori.

There is also a new development in a way we can help people that are blind or have low-vision. It is an app and it’s called Be my eyes. This app connects Blind or people with low vision with people that can see, so that the people that can see are able to help the blind.

The volunteers can help the disabled person with various tasks. Like checking expiration dates or more difficult technical problems. This way to make the world more accessible to everyone! If you look up the website of Be My Eyes you see several wonderful stories. one sentence that really spoke to me was “When a person is really grateful for something, it’s something that money can’t buy.” (Fabio São Paulo, Brazil volunteer, )

There is also an anti movement i would like to mention, this is the Human uber. This idea takes the idea of never leaving your house and turns it up to eleven. With this you can discover the world without ever leaving your bed.

The way the Human uber works is quite easy. You can connect to a so called chameleon mask, witch is then placed an a surrogate human, the surrogate then will go to where ever you would want to go and you can stream your own face on the Ipad which is affixed to the front of the chameleon mask.

I personally think the Human uber is a bit ridiculous, but it also does bring some good things with it. It for example help your sick grandma attend your birthday party she otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend.

What would this Social movement do for the future, I think we all know that individualism could go to far, and we should be afraid of what could happen if we let it go that far, but to me these movements asure me that there are people that there are people who are very aware of these this issue.

If we really let it go out of hand we could all end up being hikikomori and would not be able to leave our houses, and only connect through our screens.

Sources: 

Be My Eyes - Bringing sight to blind and low-vision people. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://www.bemyeyes.com

A New Form of Social Withdrawal in Japan: A Review of Hikikomori. (2010, March 1). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4886853/

Donaghey, R. (2018, January 31). Let a 'Human Uber' Live Your Life So You Don't Have To - VICE. Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/paq7xb/human-uber-ipad-masks-vgtrn

Fabio's Story | Something Money Can't Buy. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://www.bemyeyes.com/community-stories/something-money-cant-buy

Jordahn, S. (2019, January 14). Social Balconies connects existing balconies to encourage social interaction. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.dezeen.com/2019/01/14/video-social-balconies-edwin-van-capelleveen-mini-living-movie/

Lifetime prevalence, psychiatric comorbidity and demographic correlates of “hikikomori” in a community population in Japan. (2010, March 30). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178108003879

SOCIAL BALCONIES | Design studio | Edwin Van Capelleveen. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.edwinvancapelleveen.com/social-balconies

Pictures by : me (Tani de Bont)

[blogthougtsontrends-blog]

A bowl of cereal with grass milk?

A good way to start the morning is a bowl of cereal with milk! But what if i told you that there is someone in the Netherlands that is trying to create milk out of just grass, so no cows. What would you think of that?

This person is called Jaap Korteweg, he is the creator of the successful brand “de vegetarische slager”. Not to long ago this brand was bought by Unilever but Jaap Korteweg is not done. He wants to create milk without the help of cows. Jaap is collaborating with the university of Wageningen for this venture. The chance of this plan working are still very slim according to Jaap Korteweg but the chance of success is growing.

There are several milk alternatives like soy, oat milk, cocos milk and almond milk. The reason that there a so many alternatives is the fact that around 65% of the population is lactose intolerant. This fact is because a large part of the population in Asia is lactose intolerant, this is because in Asia they don’t rely on dairy products and soy is a lot more populair there. 

There is a brand in the United States that made “milk” from microflora and sugar. This milk is also lactose and animal free (perfectdayfood).

Although the chance is slim, there still a chance that this may work. If it does, we could make the production of milk a lot more sustainable. Maybe we could even go so far to have less cows which could bring down our green gas output. It is a stretch to say that something like could fix our green gas output but this is a step in the right direction!

Sources:

Perfect Day: All the dairy you love, with none of the dairy cows.. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.perfectdayfoods.com/

DCA MultiMedia. (2019, April 9). Vegetarische Slager broedt op koeloze melk - Nieuws Zuivel. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.boerenbusiness.nl/melk/artikel/10882011/vegetarische-slager-broedt-op-koeloze-melk

Den Ridder, H. (2019, May 15). Vegetari­sche Slager Jaap Korteweg wil melk maken zonder dat er een koe aan te pas komt. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://www.bndestem.nl/roosendaal/vegetari-sche-slager-jaap-korteweg-wil-melk-maken-zonder-dat-er-een-koe-aan-te-pas-komt~ad4abd64/

Genetics Home Reference. (n.d.). Lactose intolerance. Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/lactose-intolerance

Picture by: Flickr

[blogthougtsontrends-blog]

Pro-Rail and their fashion show

The last two years railway related accidents have been steadily rising. The railway company Pro-rail wanted to bring attention to these numbers they did this by organising a grizzly fashion show.

The fashion show shows off several pieces of clothing. These pieces resemble the clothing that could be left behind by a railway related accident. The only designer that walked around during this fashion show was a survivor of a train related accident. This survivor walked around sharing his story and telling people why they should be more careful around train stations and railways.

The fashion show occurred in April and it got a lot of negative feedback from the railway company NS, family members of the victims and the train drivers. They called it undeservingly harsh. One family member of a victim called it a relief that pro rail quit the campagne.

On the website Victim fashion Pro-Rail mention that this won’t be their last campaign to increase awareness to the danger of railroads. As of today the website www.victimfashion.nl has been taken down.

I would like to talk about my opinion of this fashion show for a little bit. I personally think this campaign is too harsh. It definitely grabs your attention that is true but it does this in a very mean spirited way. It makes it so that the family member of these victim and train drivers have to relive everything all over again.

Sources:

Victim Fashion, created by accident: Modeshow met kleding van spoorslachtoffers [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://www.nhnieuws.nl/nieuws/243437/victim-fashion-created-by-accident-modeshow-met-kleding-van-spoorslachtoffers

Ministirie van infrastructuur en waterstaat. (2017, October). Hoe veilig is het spoor in 2016? Jaarverslag Spoorveiligheid [PDF Document]. Retrieved May 17, 2019, from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t

Talpa Network. (n.d.). Retrieved May 16, 2019, from https://consent.talpanetwork.com/?TN_REFERAL_URL=https://www.hartvannederland.nl/nieuws/2019/prorail-stopt-met-omstreden-veiligheidscampagne-victim-fashion/&TN_REFERAL_ORIGIN=

Van den Bogaard, P. (2019, April 8). Prorail stopt met omstreden ‘Victim Fashion’ campagne spoorlopers. Retrieved May 15, 2019, from https://www.spoorpro.nl/spoorbouw/2019/04/08/prorail-stopt-met-omstreden-victim-fashion-campagne-spoorlopers/

Picture by: Skitterphoto

[blogthougtsontrends-blog]

Supporting your team!

The world is becoming more aware of mental health and the consequences of not talking about it. And that is a good, but there are still some problems.

The mental health league is an initiative to break down the stigma surrounding mental health. The league consists of baseball caps and dad caps with icons on the caps. The icons are depict several mental health conditions. An example is that for the mental condition bipolar disorder they have the team the bipolar bears. These caps can help start a much needed conversation around mental health.

There are a lot problems with the way mental health is perceived in the United States of America. According to a very popular tv host John Oliver the only time that mental health comes up is when there has been a mass shooting. He had an entire episode dedicated to this subject. This episode was about the way Americans talk about mental health and the consequences. There is a study that states that in America around 18.5 % of the adult population deals with mental health issues.

There are multiple initiatives to break down this barrier such as a campaign that has been going around in the Netherlands, in where you can see several celebrities wearing shirt stating the mental issues they are dealing with.

In about thirty years we really need to do better on the subject of mental health. If we can remove the taboo on the subject, it could help us understand and save many lives.  The taboo on the subject is unnecessary and harmful and when it would disappear. There is a quote of game of thrones that I think encepulses everything this initiative is about, “never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like an armour, and it can never be used to harm you” (spoken by Tyrion Lannister Game of Thrones, written by George R.R martin).

Sources:

HBO. (2015, October 4). Mental Health: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) [Video file]. Retrieved May 17, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGY6DqB1HX8

Mental health league. (2018, August 5). Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://mentalhealthleague.com

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.. (2014, November 1). Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/NSDUHmhfr2013/NSDUHmhfr2013.pdf

Why im starting the mental health league. (2018, August 5). Retrieved May 20, 2019, from https://medium.com/mental-health-league/why-im-starting-the-mental-health-league-1d32244315f6

Picture by: Mental health league

[blogthougtsontrends-blog]

In 30 years no more chocolate?

Many people like chocolate. Bad news! According to scientist the cacao tree could be extinct in 30 years. There are ways to save chocolate. American chocolate producer Ethos chocolate thinks one way to save our chocolate bar is to use genetically modified cacao trees.

The Ethos chocolate bars is made by the award winning single- estate chocolatiers at SPAGnVOLA and their family-run cacao farm in the Dominican Republic. The flavors of the Ethos chocolate bars are also made with genetically modified organism (GMOs) success stories like the papaya, oranges and apples, and Ethos believes that with the help of GMOs we can save our cacao trees.

Talking about GMO’s can evolve in a severe discussion. Take for a fact that people are afraid of genetically modified produce. It makes you think of fruits and vegetables that can make their own herbicide. And we are supposed to eat that? Yuk. Yes some GMO plants can make their own herbicide, but a lot of those herbicide only target insects that would be able to harm the plant. Take for example BT Cotton. BT Cotton can make its own herbicide that is only harmful to the insects that would be able to harm the plant. So you don’t have to spray BT Cotton as often al normal cotton. Witch can help the farmers and the environment.

The youtuber Myles Power also talks about why the fear of GMO products is unfounded. And in his video “the non GMO project swindell” he talks about why we fear GMO and why we shouldn’t be.

The future that both Ethos and Myles Power want to see is one where we are not afraid of genetically modified products. And the lies over GMO’s are no longer believed. Six GMO’s can help us save certain fruits and vegetables. And as seen by BT Cotton the use of GMO’s can also help the farmers of these GMO plants because of the fact that they don’t need to be sprayed as often and thus save money.

The time is right to use the technology we have at our disposable and save chocolate and break the taboo that clouds genetically modified produce. Doing this can help us prevent from losing fruit and vegetables. We can also help the farmers that have to tend to all of our produce. It also helps with the fact that with GMOs the farmers use less water and less pesticide and that in turn can help preserve our planet.

Sources:

Power, M. (n.d.). the great non gmo pro project [Video file]. Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPZvAPSPAWE& t=918s Myles power: the great non gmo project swindell

announcing ethos chocolate. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https:// afreshlook.org/voices/announcing-ethos-chocolate/ Ethos Chocolate

 Bt Cotton. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2019, from http:// www.utcrops.com/cotton/cotton_insects/pubs/W129-BtCotton.pdf

ethos chocolate could consumer accept a gmo pro brand. (n.d.). Retrieved April 17, 2019, from https:// www.foodbev.com/news/ethos-chocolate-could-consumers-accept-a-pro-gmo-food-brand/ Why Ethos Chocolate

Ethos Chocolate. (2019, February 5). Ethos Chocolate, a Pro-GMO Chocolate Brand, Launches to Demystify GMO Farming. Retrieved May 17, 2019, from https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ethos-chocolate-a-pro-gmo-chocolate-brand-launches-to-demystify-gmo-farming-300789665.html

Picture by: Marta Dzedychko

[blogthougtsontrends-blog]

It takes two

Sex should be pleasurable for two people! That is how it should be in my opinion. apparently Tulipan (an argentinian sex toy manufacturer) thinks the same way. Tulipan made a little box for their condom that could only be opened with four hands. These special condoms were given away in Buenos Aires in reaction to a study which concluded that around 20,5% never used condoms while having sex.

The box has eight little buttons that need to pressed at the same time for the box to open. The video that Tulipan has posted on social media also shows this.

But there is some controversy around this little condom box. People on twitter were saying that if you were raped the perpetrator wouldn’t bother with a condom, and certainly not one that they can’t open. Some users of social media also took offence with the fact that this condom box could not be opened by someone that has no use in their arms or fingers. They called this ableist.

In my own opinion this isn’t the point of this product, I think that the idea is as I mentioned before, that sex should be pleasurable for two people. This product can act like different layer of protection it is not only a condom but it acts like a contract between two people and say’s that they both want to do this. Seeing as you can’t open the box on your own. The allegations of it being ableist are in my opinion also a bit far fetched. This little box was made to open a conversation about consent and the pleasure of sex for both participating parties.

 There has been a lot of talk around rape and sexual abuse these years, a few examples are the #metoo movement and the Amber Rose slutwalk. All these movements work together to make the the topic of consent more approachable.

This condom box that can only be opened with two persons also helps in that department it opens up the conversation about consent and can also help people who have had an experience with rape and can help them regain trust in their partner.

Sources:

Tulipán.World Class Quality. (n.d.). Retrieved April 14, 2019, from http://www.tulipan.com.ar

Amberrose slutwalk. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2019, from http://amberroseslutwalk.com

Clark, B. (2019, April 9). 'Consent condom' requires four hands to open package. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://thenextweb.com/insider/2019/04/04/consent-condom-requires-four-hands-to-open-package/?fbclid=IwAR3I2dZygAFugIL0JcGci6pOCniM4tj3J7fbTcLiNRqh2OePuKN6jPKvtOI

Selby, B. (n.d.). This Condom Can't Be Opened Without Two Pairs of Consenting Hands. Retrieved May 17, 2019, from https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/consent-condoms-tulipan-argentina-sexual-violence/

Young, S. (2019, April 5). Twitter users criticise new 'consent condom' saying it 'won't prevent rape'. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/consent-condom-twitter-reaction-four-hands-rape-tulipan-a8856166.html

Picture by: Pixabay